Many states offer lottery games. While these state lottery games have taken many forms, the traditional lottery game involves a player selecting six numbers from a pool of fifty total numbers. After the player makes his selection, the operator of the lottery selects six numbers from the total pool of numbers. The player wins or loses based on the quantity of matches between the numbers selected by the player and the numbers selected by the operator. The player can win very large payouts for correctly picking all six winning lottery numbers.
Other lottery schemes involve picking more or less than six numbers and the size of the total pool of numbers can be more or less than fifty numbers. The drawing of the winning numbers can be done on a periodic basis, such as once a day or once a week. Alternatively, some lottery states offer instant lottery games in which the player picks three or four numbers and, using a computer with a random number generator, a quick pick of winning numbers is done concurrently with the player""s number selection and the player knows immediately if he has won or lost.
The drawback to the conventional lottery game is that the player can only win if he matches the numbers selected by the lottery operator. The mathematical probability of the player winning is quite low and most plays are losing plays (which apparently is the appeal of lotteries to state governments which typically set the payouts so that 50% or more of the money wagered by the players is kept for the state treasury).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,089 (Wood) (the disclosure of which is incorporated herein) describes a lottery summing game in which the numerical total of the numbers drawn in a lottery game is summed and the player wagers on what the numerical total will be. The player is provided with a wagering slip upon which the player marks which numerical totals the player thinks the selected lottery numbers will total. The wagering slip shows various winning number groups from which the player may select one, some or all of the wagering number groups with each wagering number group requiring a separate wager. Each wagering number group has its associated payout odds.
As disclosed in this patent, the pool of lottery numbers range from 0 to 9 and there are three groups of lottery numbers, with one number being drawn from each group. The three lottery numbers are drawn and the numerical value of the drawn lottery numbers is totaled. This final sum total is then compared to the player slips and any player who has selected the correct final sum total is a winner. A winning player is awarded odds based on the amount of his wager depending on what the final sum total is. The. odds range from 250-for-1 down to 1.75-for-1. Other betting possibilities are disclosed, such as wagering that all three numbers are odd; all three numbers are even; two numbers are odd and one number is even; or two numbers are even and one number is odd.
The drawback of this method of play in the Wood ""089 patent is that the player is limited to a very narrow range of possible winning combinations and the pool of numbers from which the numbers are drawn is quite small.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved lottery game that offers the player the opportunity to win large payouts depending on what the final numerical total of the selected lottery numbers is when all of the selected lottery numbers are added up.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide that a player may select that the total of the selected lottery numbers may be a high total or a low total, or either a high total or a low total. If the player has correctly selected high or low, the player receives a payout. This feature can be incorporated into a conventional lottery game and the player can be awarded this additional payout in conjunction with any normal payouts that the player may win during the conventional lottery game. The player may engage in this high/low sum feature of a lottery game without having to make an additional wager, aside from the wager the player makes to participate in the conventional lottery game. Alternatively, the player can be required to make a second wager to be eligible for this high/low sum feature in addition to the conventional first wager to participate in the lottery game. Still as another alternative, the player may simply wager on the high/low game and not play in the regular lottery game.
It is an advantage of the present invention that a lottery game will be enhanced by this new and exciting feature and that the player can win a payout based on whether the numerical total of the selected lottery numbers is high or low. This will increase participation in the lottery games offered by the lottery operator.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
A player selects whether the numerical total of the numbers selected during a lottery game will be high or low, or either high or low. When the winning lottery numbers are selected, they are also totaled and a numerical sum of the selected lottery numbers is determined. The numerical total is designated as xe2x80x9chighxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9clowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cmiddlexe2x80x9d based or pre-established criteria and winning high/low selections are paid. A separate wager may be required for the player to be eligible for this high/low feature of the lottery game.
The player may receive a fixed amount as the award for correctly selecting whether the numerical total of the winning lottery numbers is high or low. Alternatively, the player may receive an award from a sliding scale of awards based on the actual numerical total of the winning lottery numbers.